Peter Robinson's Blog, page 9

Read and listen to Peter’s Five-Minute Mystery

Peter Robinson was invited by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) to write and read a “five-minute mystery,” or a short story that can be read in less than five minutes. Read this chilling story People Just Don’t Listen on the CBC web site. Or click on Listen to the Story to hear Peter read it himself. While only five minutes long, this story packs a chilling conclusion that you’ll remember for a long time.

Before the Poison Nominated for Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel

Peter’s latest novel, Before the Poison, has been nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award for best novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. This is an award given out by other crime writers, and receiving it, or even being shortlisted, is an honor. The awards banquet will be held on 31st May, 2012, at the Toronto Hilton.

The prestigious Arthur Ellis Awards are presented in 6 categories for excellence in works in the crime/mystery/thriller genre published for the first time in the previous year by permanent residents of Canada, or by Canadian citizens living abroad.

DCI Banks Filming Second Series in Yorkshire

After the success of the first DCI Banks series, a new series has begun filming in Yorkshire, where the Inspector Banks novels are set.

The books to be adapted in this next series will be Wednesday's Child, Dry Bones that Dream (released in the US and Canada as Final Account), and Strange Affair.

These new TV dramas will be aired in the autumn in the UK, and we will keep readers posted if we get any news of overseas broadcasts.

Some News from Peter Robinson

Before the Poison has debuted in the New York Times Book Review bestseller chart at #21 this week. This is the extended list, of course, but we only need to go up another six places to get in the published list. The paperback reached #2 in the UK bestseller list recently, and is still in the top ten. The hardcover made #1 last August.

I have a number of exciting events coming up in 2012. I will be interviewing Harlan Coben at the Metro Reference Library in Toronto, on Thursday, March 29, at 7.00pm. On Saturday, May 5, at 2.00pm, I will be giving a talk at the Richmond Food and Drink Festival. In June, I am set to appear at the Beverley Folk Festival, in East Yorkshire, with folk superstar Martin Carthy. This event is on Sunday, June 17 at 11.45am. I hope to premiere a new short story connected with the world of folk music, and showcasing songs from Martin. I have done events with his daughter Eliza Carthy before, and they were all great fun.

In July, I will be having an onstage chat with Ian Rankin at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Festival, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. We did this at the first ever festival, and have repeated it several times since with much success. This is on Friday, July 20, from 10.00pm to 11.00pm. Yes, that's right. It's the late event. No doubt everyone will be sufficiently wined and dined by then. In August, I have an event at the Festival of the Written Arts, in Sechelt, on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. the festival runs from August 16 to 19. More details to follow. On August 27, I am due to appear at the Edinburgh Festival for the first time. Again, more details later. Finally, from November 5 to 10, I'm teaching a crime writing course along with Manda Scott for the Arvon Foundation, at Monlack Mhor, near Inverness.

And that's all for the moment. I'm sure there will be more, and I will try to get details out as they come in. It's shaping up to be a very busy year, and I'm looking forward to seeing many of you on my travels. The next DCI Banks novel, Watching the Dark, should be out in the UK and Canada in August, and the second series of DCI Banks will be airing on the ITV in the autumn. I have just heard that it is airing in Sweden at the moment.

Before the Poison Now Available in the US

Peter's latest novel, Before the Poison is now available in the US. This best-selling book looks at a crime that occurred more than 50 years ago.

Grace Fox poisoned her husband in January, 1953. Or did she? Though she was tried for murder and subsequently hanged, Grace remained a silent and enigmatic figure to the very end.

When Chris Lowe returns to his native Yorkshire to live in the isolated Kilnsgate House nearly sixty years later, in the wake of his wife's untimely death, he wants only to be left alone to compose his piano sonata after years of soul-destroying, though lucrative, work writing film scores. Soon, however, as he learns the troubled history of Kilnsgate, he becomes fascinated by Grace's story. The more he discovers about her life and her work as a Queen Alexandra's nurse during the war, the more certain he becomes that she couldn't have murdered her husband.

As Chris searches for other explanations of what might have happened on that snow-bound January night, through rumours of half-glimpsed figures, mysterious strangers and a missing letter, his quest to prove Grace's innocence becomes entangled with his own need to sift through the ruins and loose ends of his own life in search of some kind of meaning and order, and his new relationship with local estate agent Heather Barlow.

Alternating between a contemporary account of Grace's trial, her wartime journals of Dunkirk, Singapore and Normandy, and Chris's quest for the truth, Before the Poison is a suspenseful exploration of guilt, self-sacrifice and redemption, moving inexorably towards a revelation that, when it is uncovered, will prove shattering and surprising both to Chris and to the reader.

Tom Nolan in the Wall Street Journal wrote:

With this stand-alone novel, Mr. Robinson—best-known for his award-winning Inspector Banks mystery series—has fashioned a gripping tale that brings to mind not only old-time Hollywood but also British "golden age" storytelling in the Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier tradition.

Read an excerpt of the book here.

Before the Poison to Be Released in the US on February 7

Peter's latest novel, Before the Poison will be released in hardcover in the US on February 7. This best-selling book looks at a crime that occurred more than 50 years ago.

Grace Fox poisoned her husband in January, 1953. Or did she? Though she was tried for murder and subsequently hanged, Grace remained a silent and enigmatic figure to the very end.

When Chris Lowe returns to his native Yorkshire to live in the isolated Kilnsgate House nearly sixty years later, in the wake of his wife's untimely death, he wants only to be left alone to compose his piano sonata after years of soul-destroying, though lucrative, work writing film scores. Soon, however, as he learns the troubled history of Kilnsgate, he becomes fascinated by Grace's story. The more he discovers about her life and her work as a Queen Alexandra's nurse during the war, the more certain he becomes that she couldn't have murdered her husband.

As Chris searches for other explanations of what might have happened on that snow-bound January night, through rumours of half-glimpsed figures, mysterious strangers and a missing letter, his quest to prove Grace's innocence becomes entangled with his own need to sift through the ruins and loose ends of his own life in search of some kind of meaning and order, and his new relationship with local estate agent Heather Barlow.

Alternating between a contemporary account of Grace's trial, her wartime journals of Dunkirk, Singapore and Normandy, and Chris's quest for the truth, Before the Poison is a suspenseful exploration of guilt, self-sacrifice and redemption, moving inexorably towards a revelation that, when it is uncovered, will prove shattering and surprising both to Chris and to the reader.

Read an excerpt of the book here.

Peter Was the Most Borrowed Author of 2011 at the RNIB

The RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) published the name of the most borrowed author of 2011: Peter Robinson. It turns out that Peter's Innocent Graves topped the list of the most borrowed audiobooks, and a total of 7 of Peter's books were in the top 100, with Inspector Banks taking 3 of the top 10 slots.

Peter is delighted that all readers – those who read on paper, and those with visual deficiencies – enjoy his books, and he was particularly happy to see how popular his books are with the RNIB.

Seasons Greetings from Peter

Season's Greetings to everyone. I don't have a photo of myself dressed as Santa Claus, so this one in a penguin suit will have to do. I'm with the Danish actor Bjarne Henriksen from the hit UK TV series The Killing at the Crime and Thriller Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, 7th October 2011. Notice it's late in the evening and the dicky bow is gone.

Three New DCI Banks TV Dramas Ordered

ITV has ordered three more DCI Banks TV dramas from Left Bank, the producer of the four that have already been broadcast. These will be broadcast in 2012, but we have no firm air dates yet. The books to be adapted in this next series will be Wednesday's Child, Dry Bones that Dream (released in the US and Canada as Final Account), and Strange Affair.

We still have no news regarding foreign sales, either for broadcast or on DVD. But as soon as we hear something, you'll read about it here.

DCI Banks DVD Set to be Released October 31

The first series of DCI Banks comes out on DVD on October 31 (Region 2 only), only a couple of weeks after it finished its very successful run on ITV. The six episodes are also available as downloads through iTunes UK. Though it is very difficult to tell from the cover and the information displayed on Amazon.co.uk, the DVD set does contain the pilot Aftermath in addition to Playing with Fire, Friend of the Devil and Cold is the Grave.

Stephen Tompkinson plays DCI Banks, Andrea Lowe is DS Annie Cabbot, Lorraine Burroughs is DS Winsome Jackman, Jack Deam is DC Ken Blackstone, Colin Tierney is Chief Supt. Gerry Rydell and Tom Shaw is DC Kevin Templeton. Guest stars include Charlotte Riley, Monica Dolan, John Bowe, Ian Bartholomew, Sian Breckin, Tamzin Merchant, Barry Sloane and Michael Maloney.

The series was shot in Yorkshire, with Otley standing in very nicely for Eastvale, and Banks's cottage near West End is a sight to behold. Robert Murphy adapted three of the four stories, and Laurence Davey adapted Friend of the Devil. More details are available online at imdb.com.

At the moment, I am still waiting to hear about overseas sales and the commissioning of a second series. Keep checking this website for details, and I'll let you know as soon as I find out.